Guardrail assembly



Feb. 20, 1951 Q H, RlDDLE 2,542,840

GUARDRAIL ASSEMBLY Filed April 24, 1946 9 FL .1. L?? gl/7 IL I7 5 3 9 1f I Z jf nm nu 16.

gf 53115 ,Z1 M L?? KJ 31% Z5 Z7 Z Z6 Z7 Z7 Patented Feb. 20, 1951 `George H. Riddle, Bethlehem, '-Ia., assignor to Bethlehem Steel Company, a corporation of Pennsylvania Application April 24, 1946, Serial No. 664,535

(Cl. `@Sii-17) 4 Claims. l

My invention relates in general to railway track equipment, and 'more particularly to vvan improved guard rail assembly.

It is conventional railroad practice, at places such `as switches, frogs and curves `where there `may be some possibility of derailments to employ inner guard railsadjacent to `and parallel to a main rail to hold thewheel-langes against the main rail. In this service it is obvious that safety is essential.

One object of this invention, therefore, 'is to provide a `guard rail assembly of increased 'reliability, adaptability, and sturdiness A furtherobject is to provide an assembly with positive resistance to creeping under continued heavy trafc.

A further object `isan assembly which is `.f.u:lapt ed to the use of lateral braces where required.

A further object is an assembly requiring a minimum of machiningin order to'permita vertical or "canted main rail to be used.

A further object is an assembly in which the wheel flangeway may bereadily adjusted to compensate for `:gaging or wear by 'the lmovement of only one rail plate.

Another object is an assembly lin which the lateral pressure on the guard rail tending to overturn it is simultaneously opposed by the downward `pressure on the main rail.

Still lanother' object is a welded and bolted Aassembly in which the `double side vshoulders provide a strong and rigid clamping eiect, `with resultant resistance to lateral thrusts and Veasier maintenance `of alignment.

Other and further objects, advantages and purposes of this invention will appear hereinafter in the specification and inthe appended'claims.

In order to `render -my invention more clear, I shall now refer to the attached sheet of drawings forming a part of this specification and in which like figures or reference indicate like parts.

Figure 1 is a reduced-scale top plan view or a guard rail assembly constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a considerably enlarged vertical transverse section, taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 3 is a somewhat enlarged top plan view of the central portion of the assembly shown in Fig. l, and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary vertical transverse section showing how the clip, the main rail tie plate and the reinforcing plate are bolted together.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral I designates the main rail, preferably of stand- `ard T shape as shown; and A2 the guard rail, which may have beveled end faces as shown in Fig. `1. `The head 3 of said guard rail may `for increased service 'have the greater portion of 'the metal disposed on its outer or wheel-flange engaging side rII as shown. The base of said guard rail is provided with a flat inner ilange 5 of substantially standard shape, and with an outwardly projecting and downwardly inclined hook iiange 6. p

Each rolled steel guard rail plate 1 is provided with a shoulder 8 abutting the edge of the inner flange 5 of the guard rail, and with a seat 9 having a longitudinal recess I Il and adapted to receive the hook liange 6. A pair of inclined braces I I havingtheir upper ends abutting the head 3 and web I2 of the guard rail 2 and welded at their lower base edges by seams .I3 -to the -guard rail -plate I may be employed to provide additional strength in the center of said 'guard rail.

The main rail I is seated on the bridging tie plates I4, -`eachoi which is provided with a shoulder I5 abutting the edge of the outer flange I6 `of said main rail I. The inner ange Il `of said rail I is arranged and adapted to overhang the short innerside I3 of the tie plate I4 and to rest `upon the outer hook ange E of the guard rail `2 to `prevent its overturning. The seat of said tie plate I4 may be canted, Ito accommodate -a canted -main rail as Ishown in Fig. -2, or planed nat to accommodate a vertical rail whichever may be desired.

narrow rectangular transverse base plate "I 9 is securedcentrally beneath Veach guard rail plate l by the welded seam 20 and may be similarly `secured to main rail tie plate YIll if an integral non-a`djustable assembly is desired. However, it `may at times be necessary to compensate for rail wear and other changes in conditions of operation by the adjusting means shown, comprising a pair of standard button head oval neck track bolts 2| passing upward through the diagonally disposed elliptical slots 22 in said base plate I9 and through the corresponding round holes 23 in the tie plate I4 and the elliptical holes 23' in the clip 24 bearing against the outer flange of the rail I, said bolts being retained in place by lockwashers 24' and nuts 25. In cooperation therewith, the diagonally inclined outer shoulder 26 of the base plate I9 tting into the somewhat wider and similarly inclined cut-away outer portion 2'I of the tie plate I4 allows the flangeway between the rails to be readily made wider or narrower by a simple sliding motion of the tie plate I4 on the base plate I9 without the risk of accidental spreading of the rails.

The base plates I9, the guard rail plates 1,

" and the inner ange 5 of vthe guard rail 2 are cent supporting ties 34, between which, and gen erally without touching said ties, the base plate I9 is held suspended.

When I use the expression outer throughout the specication and claims I mean the location outside of the track structure and when I use the expression inner I mean the location within the main track structure.

Although I have hereinabove shown and described my invention in considerable detail, I do notY wish to `be limited to the exact and specic structuresstated, but may use such substitutes, modications or equivalents thereof as are within the scope and spirit of the invention and of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and useful and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. In a guard rail assembly, the combination of a main rail, a guard rail having its outer ange underlying the inner flange of the main rail, a guard rail plat-e and a separate main rail tie plate seating said rails respectively, a base plate afxed to the guard rail plate and provided witha longitudinally inclined outer shoulder which engages a corresponding recess in the main rail tie plate, and upright headed members movable in slots in the base plate spaced inward from and parallel to said outer shoulder and extending upward through bolt holes in the tie plate, and thereby permitting the relative adjustment of spacing between main rail and guard rail and securing of said ,tie plate to the base plate.

2. In a guard rail assembly, the combination of a base plate having an inwardly sloping outer shoulder and correspondingly sloping elliptical slots adjacent said shoulder, a, tie plate having its outer face centrally recessed to engage said to the main rail, a guard rail plate seating said guardrail, a base plate extending centrally beneath the tie plate and guard rail plate and welded to the latter, said base plate being provided with diagonally sloping oval slots in register with the bolt holes of the clip and tie plate and with a diagonally sloping shoulder tting intothe cut-away portion of said tie plate, and tie-bolts inserted through saidbolt holes and said oval slots.

4. In a guard rail assembly, the combination of a guard rail provided with an inner flange of substantially standard shape and with an outwardly projecting and downwardly inclined hook iiange, a guard rail plate provided with a shoulder abutting the inner `flange of the guard rail and having a seat adapted to receive the hook flange thereof, inclined braces having their upper ends abutting the web of the guard rail and welded at their lower base edges to the guard rail plate, a,main rail of standard shape spaced outwardly of and parallel to the guard rail and having its inner flange resting upon the outer hook iiange of said guard rail, a tie plate seating said main rail and provided with an inner shoulder abutting the outer iiange of said main rail and an outer recessed portion having a face inclined at an acute angle tothe longitudinal axis of said main rail, a clip bearing against said outer flange, said guard rail plate and tie plate being adapted to span a pair of railroad ties, and a base plate having a terminal shoulder of corresponding angle but shorter than the recess and engaging therein adapted to be interposed between said ties and secured beneath the guard rail plate and the tie plate, whereby longitudinal movement of the baseplate and main rail tie plate with reference to each other will cause said tie plate and the guard rail plate to approach toward or recede from each other.

' GEORGE H. RIDDLE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references `are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberY Name Date 797,939 Clary Aug. 22, 1905 836,436 Clary Nov. 20, 1906 V933,123 Scott Sept. 7, 1909 1,099,569 Newhall et al June 9, 1914 1,370,302 Gibbs Mar. 1, 1921 1,481,765 Y Wentling Jan. 22, 1924 1,528,571 Salsich Mar. 3, 1925 1,550,019 Y Einstein et al Aug. 18, 1925 1,886,265 Andreianov Nov. 1, 1932 2,232,036 Porter Feb. 18, 1941 2,235,248 Y Asselin Mar. 18, 1941 

